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ProudFeet
Nevrast
Oct 21 2015, 7:27pm
Post #1 of 7
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Bilbo in AUJ Prologue
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I wondered what everyone's take is on the prologue scene of Bilbo in AUJ. I'm very torn on it. On the one hand, I think that it served as a very nice re-entry back into the Middle Earth saga and was a good starting point for previous fans of the Lord of the Rings. On the other hand, it does go against much of the continuity of the opening of Fellowship but also reveals Bilbo's fate.
I believe that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings should be viewed as individual entities, but will makes sense when viewed in order. If we know that Bilbo survives the ordeals of The Hobbit, do you think this detracts from the investment when Bilbo is in peril. Take LOTR out of the equation, do you think the story would have been better served if it skipped over the prologue altogether and started with Martin Freeman meeting Gandalf in the Shire, or do you think just the scenes of an Old Bilbo should have been removed up until the ending of BOTFA?
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QuackingTroll
Doriath
Oct 21 2015, 8:20pm
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I would have preferred no bookend scenes... but...
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I think the ending with old Bilbo would be jarring if we didn't see him like that at the start. For those who've never seen LotR. Suddenly seeing an old man playing Bilbo might seem a bit weird without him being introduced that way in the first film? And the whole end scene may seem out of place and unnecessary.
I don't have a problem with that first scene, I think it's fantastically done. It's the whole Frodo thing after the Erebor stuff that's just completely unnecessary, creates continuity issues and slows the pace down to a crawl before it's even gotten going. I still think they made a huge mistake with that scene, it's completely useless.
***
In my usual way I have my own over-imagined opening for a movie, if you care to hear it -
I'd open in the Prancing Pony with Gandalf and Thorin! Thorin describes the horrors of Erebor to Gandalf (we have a cool epic prologue flashback) then they briefly discuss the search for Thrain and the beginnings of the quest. Gandalf says to Thorin...
Gandalf: You need to reclaim your homeland. And you'll need a good deal more than thirteen to best the might and cunning of a dragon.
Thorin: But all the warriors are busy fighting one another in distant lands. And heroes are scarce or simply not to be found...
Gandalf: -Which is why you're going to need a burglar! And I believe I know just the fellow. He can be excitable.. and he's odd, I grant you, but fierce as a dragon in a pinch.
Thorin: Who?
Gandalf: [leaning in] ...In a hole... in the ground, there lives a hobbit.
[transition to Bag End]
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LSF
Mithlond
Oct 21 2015, 8:23pm
Post #3 of 7
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I don't know about Gandalf's last line in your idea, but if this were a stand-alone trilogy, your idea could work.
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Dcole4
Nargothrond
Oct 21 2015, 8:27pm
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This would have been an amazing alternate version of the film, minus the Thrain stuff, since that overcomplicates things at this point. But slamming the Erebor intro there and then segueing to the good morning sequence would have been amazingly effective.
While I love the films we got, there's an "incredible" streamlined 4-5 hour movie that could be made out of the mounds of footage in PJ's vaults.
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LSF
Mithlond
Oct 21 2015, 8:27pm
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Would I have done it if it were a stand-alone trilogy or if it had been made first? No. But I think even if someone watches Hobbit first, then LOTR, it's not enough of a problem.
Also, I don't really see how it goes against the continuity in Fellowship. Bilbo tells Frodo to go off and meet Gandalf, then in Fellowship when he's yelling for Frodo to answer the door, he's simply forgotten. Wouldn't be a stretch, since he is distracted by writing the story.
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Glorfindela
Doriath
Oct 22 2015, 12:31am
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I absolutely love the intro. by old Bilbo, with the amazing first views of Erebor and the way he relates the whole beginning of the story. Beautiful.
Seeing Frodo was a bit unnecessary, but it's not something I would get exercised about.
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Aragorn the Elfstone
Dor-Lomin
Oct 22 2015, 3:24am
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*Darth Vader voice* Join me.... and embrace the discontinuity!
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Seriously, though, the two trilogies have a number of contradictions. As far as Bilbo's prologue, yes, it doesn't line up with the writing of the Red Book as depicted in FotR (nor Bilbo's not knowing where Frodo's gone off to). But it's just not a problem for me.
I've said it before - these are two different trilogies, made over 10 years apart. Perfect continuity is unnecessary. Storytelling is fluid. Details change. In FotR, Bilbo's wearing a blue jacket in the prologue. In AUJ, he's wearing a read one. So on and so forth.
I've never been a proponent of the six-film saga thing. We have two trilogies, connected but not necessarily beholden to one another.
For my own sake, I love the prologue. Having Ian Holm narrate is not only a treat for his performance as Bilbo, but also for those of us who know and love that voice as Frodo from the BBC Radio Production. 
"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen
(This post was edited by Aragorn the Elfstone on Oct 22 2015, 3:27am)
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